The invention relates generally to solid state lasers such as Nd:YAG lasers and more particularly to compact packaging of solid state lasers.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 730,002, filed May 1, 1985, and CIP application Ser. No. 811,546, filed Dec. 19, 1985, described solid state lasers which included a laser rod end pumped by a laser diode. The pumping volume of the laser diode was matched to the laser rod to optimize pumping efficiency and the laser cavity was configured to provide a beam waist within the cavity at which a frequency doubler crystal could be placed. Tne laser diode was packaged in the same assembly. Each laser was designed to produce a particular output frequency determined by the material of the laser rod and the presence or absence of a doubler crystal. However, for the widest variety of applications and for the greatest ease of use, it is desirable to have a laser with the most compact packaging possible and a laser with interchangeable components so that a number of different output characteristics would be available from the same laser system. Since the output characteristics are largely determined by the design and components of the laser cavity, it is desirable to have a compact laser head which is a separate unit from the rest of the laser system and which can be readily coupled and decoupled to the rest of the system. Thus laser heads producing different output characteristics can be readily substituted. It is also desirable to end pump the laser rod.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,387,297 issued June 7, 1983 to Swartz et al. and 4,409,470 issued Oct. 11, 1983 to Shepard et al. disclose a hand held typically gun-shaped laser-tube based laser scanning head. The head may also be streamlined or box-shaped. The head typically has a volume of 50-100 cubic inches and weights 1-2 pounds. The use of a semiconductor laser diode in place of a He-Ne laser tube allows the lower sizes of the indicated ranges to be achieved. Power supplies, scanning motors and mirrors, and other circuitry are all included in the scanner head. The head is coupled to other components such as computer and data storage circuitry through an electrical cable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,318 issued May 10, 1983 to Barry et al. shows a laser pumping system in which optic fibers in a fan-in arrangement concentrate energy from an array of LED's or diode lasers to points along the length of a laser rod.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,035,742 issued July 12, 1977 to Schiffner shows a device for optically pumping solid state lasers having a waveguide between the pumping source and laser rod disposed at an angle to the surface of the rod determined by the index of refraction of the waveguide.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,201 issued Sept. 21, 1976 to Rosenkrantz et al. shows an end pumped solid state laser in which a diode laser array is pulsed at a rate and duty cycle to produce Cw operation.